The old adage says “A watched pot never boils”, but I feel there are also times when “An unwatched pot always boils over”.

Such was the case in Carroll County, Virginia at the turn of the twentieth century.

By 1900 the water was simmering between the mostly Democratic Allens and the Republican led court system. Cries of illegalities from the Allens against the court officials were met with claims of Allen bullying that led to unfulfilled jail sentences.

Heat was turned up in 1911 when nephews of the Allens were involved in a fight that ordinarily would have been interpreted as “boys being boys”. Instead numerous charges were brought against the nephews, while no charges were brought by the parties that initiated the skirmish. The water reached a boiling point when the nephews were extradited in a manner in which the Allens felt was improper. New charges of interfering with the duties of an officer then resulted in numerous charges against the Allen men themselves. 

Although the Allens, and the court officials, had been in hot water before, it took a March day in 1912 for the pot to boil over and become what will forever be known as “The Carroll County Shootout”.

This is the story of the aftermath of that shooting. Follow Jeremiah Haynes, a Richmond journalist, as he comes to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to “find the truth,” a truth that no one wanted told.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Appalachian writer Jerry L. Haynes grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia. After graduating from Fries High School in 1969, he attended VA Tech where he graduated with a Civil Engineering degree in 1977, after serving four years in the US Navy.

Although Haynes always enjoyed writing, he didn’t pen his first novel until 2006 when he self-published A Cotton Mill Town Christmas. He followed with his second novel, The Cotton Mill. Both were loosely based upon his growing up in Fries. He says his first two books are 1/3 fact, 1/3 fiction, and 1/3 just plain fantasy.

Next came two historical fictions. The Saga of Caty Sage is based on the epic true story of five-year old Caty Sage who disappeared from her Elk Creek, Virginia farm in 1792, and her family’s fifty year search for her. Mountain Justice is based upon the aftermath of the Hillsville courthouse tragedy of 1912 when a Richmond journalist, after the execution of Floyd and Clyde Allen, traveled to southwest Virginia to follow Floyd’s final wish for him “to find the truth.”

Haynes has written the non-fiction works entitled The All New, & Improved, You and Climbing Mt. Happiness: The Haynes Hierarchy of Hope and Happiness. He also presents these as a motivational seminars.

The author’s passion though is the work he does through his website /blog www.BringingHopeAndHappiness.com.

The author has spoken before audiences from Roanoke (VA) to Romania. He lives with his wife Judy in Dublin, Virginia and can be reached at handh_services@hotmail.com or through his website.

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